Over the past few years the Human Resources world has had this buzz word floating around … Skills Gap!  GASP! Many are in disbelief, while others saw it coming years ago. But what is it exactly and how does it impact our organizations?

A Skills Gap is referred to as the difference between the skills and experience the employer is seeking in relation to the skills and experience the available workforce has.

Let’s unpack this a bit. Hiring managers and HR teams are tasked to develop job descriptions for roles within their organization. This establishes the scope of duties and defines the necessary requirements needed to perform such duties successfully. But this can also be a major cause for destruction in the hiring realm. Far too often job descriptions become too complex and lofty. This tactic, unfortunately, steers quality candidates away from what could be a great fit for them… with some training.

On the other side of this argument is the push for higher education that could very well be part of the reason for this epidemic. Students began hearing as early as the 2000’s that the option to attend a trade school or to go straight into a job was no longer viable and they needed to dream bigger and do more. Our society persistently stirred our youth toward collegiate paths. Doing so, has created a tremendous shortage of skilled, hands on individuals that aren’t afraid to do the technical, sometimes dirty work that our organizations need in order to keep running.

Thirdly, I believe that our daily schedules have become so full and busy, that it has caused us to become disconnected from our workforce. Many times, employees are hired in to a new role, that they may be more than qualified for, but still need some training and guidance in order to fully grasp and take ownership of the role. Unfortunately, that training and guidance is either nonexistent or extremely minimal. This causes a major disconnect with this new employee, which in turn diminishes the chance for them to have any loyalty to the organization.

So, what can we do to close this Skills Gap and put a stop to this troublesome epidemic?